Why have you closed the streets in Papatoetoe West?

    We are trialling changes to the street layout in Papatoetoe as part of a Low Traffic Neighbourhood trial funded by the Waka Kotahi Innovating Streets fund. The goal of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods is to redirect cars from residential streets, like Park Avenue, Hillside Road and Sumner Street, back on to main arterial roads like Portage Road and Wyllie Road in order to create quieter local streets where people feel it is safer and more pleasant to walk or cycle.

    Are these changes permanent?

    No, all the changes are designed to be able to be installed quickly and removed quickly. This is a trial, whether the adjustments become permanent depends on community feedback and monitoring.

    Community feedback is critical to the success of the trial and to achieving outcomes that work for our community.

    Who gets to decide if any of these changes are permanent?

    The decision-making process will sit with the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board and is approved by Auckland Transport. Decisions will be based on feedback from residents and recorded changes in traffic flows. Advisors with expertise on traffic systems will help Local Board members to analyse the data and provide advice.

    I don't like the changes

    The important thing to remember is that this is a trial. We are testing a few ideas over a couple of months. Over this time, we’ll be gathering the community’s feedback on the changes. We want your feedback.

    Please be specific on what aspects you don’t like about the trial, as the more we know, the more helpful it is to make decisions and any changes.  Such as:  

    • Location of the temporary device 
    • Type of temporary traffic device used in the trial 
    • Access in or out of a street 
    • An increase in noise, or traffic, people, travel time to work or school or business 
    • Do you live in the area, a visitor to the area, driving through to another road/street, area?  
    • Will the trial increase or decrease safety in the area for pedestrians, people on bikes, children, people in cars? 

    At the conclusion of the trial we’ll consider all of this feedback and produce an outcome that works for our community.

    We encourage people to be open to these new ideas, to think about the long-term picture and how we can make small improvements to our area.

    Remember while some short-term changes may be challenging, they are not set in stone. You have your chance to tell us what you think.

    I like the changes

    The important thing to remember is that this is a trial and not set in stone.  We are testing a few ideas over a couple of months. Over this time, we’ll be gathering the community’s feedback on the changes. We want your feedback.

    Please be specific on what aspects you like about the trial, as the more we know, the more helpful it is to make decisions and changes.  Such as: 

    • Location of the temporary device 
    • Type of temporary traffic device used in the trial 
    • A decrease in noise, or traffic
    • Access in or out of a street
    • Do you live in the area, a visitor to the area, driving through to another road/street or area  
    • Will the trial increase or decrease safety in the area for pedestrians, people on bikes, children, people in cars? 

    At the conclusion of the trial we’ll consider all of this feedback and produce an outcome that works for our community.

    If changes are made permanent, will the concrete blocks and rubber speed cushions stay?

    No, these are low-cost solutions for use during the trial as permanent solutions like speed humps, speed cameras or roundabouts were not feasible.  If some changes are made permanent, new solutions will be designed and installed over time. These could include bollards or permanent speed humps, but it is an unknown at this stage.

    Why weren’t we informed of changes before they were installed?

    We distributed letters asking for your feedback in late March and sent out an update on the project in advance of the work beginning. We are sorry if you were not aware of the work, but the project team will be hosting drop-in sessions at the Papatoetoe library in the coming weeks to answer any questions you may have about the project and to receive your feedback on how it’s going.

    Why were these streets chosen?

    These streets were chosen as they were identified by locals as streets with excessive vehicle volumes and speeds, and they had all the elements needed for a successful Low Traffic trial;

    Work on the project started in 2020. The project team held public drop in sessions in December 2020, January 2021, and throughout April.  We also invited feedback via the AK Have Your Say Project Page. Many local residents provided feedback at our drop-in sessions and over 90 people had their say via the website which shaped the Stage 1 design installed early May.

    One of the main issues identified by locals was the high speeds and number of vehicles using these streets as a rat-run.  

    The problem was confirmed through traffic monitoring, which found in excess of 3,900 cars a day travelling along Park Avenue and 2,200 cars a day travelling along Hillside Road. Traffic monitoring at one location on Park Avenue found that 36% of motorists per day using it exceeded the 50kph speed limit, with 114 cars travelling in excess of 70 kph and one car exceeding 121kph.